Unbind Me (Three Is Better Than None)
by Shelly LeBlanc
Summary: "They were going to die, Donnie realized, and Raph was going to turn on him next. Master Splinter was going to lose all of his children tonight, one way or another, if Donnie didn't stop it. And he only knew of one way." Alternate Ending to S 3, Ep 16: Clash of the Mutanimals.


Title: Unbind Me (Three is Better Than None)  
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2k12 Cartoon  
Characters: Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo  
Prompt: Tumblr – Leave a " **Unbind Me** " in my ask, and I'll write a drabble about one character freeing another, or the other way around, or something among the lines [ _be it freeing them from jail, from handcuffs, from a trap, from a curse, feel free to specify_.  
Rating: PG-13 for violence, blood, self-sacrificing, and major character death.  
Word Count: 835  
Summary: "They were going to die, Donnie realized, and Raph was going to turn on him next. Master Splinter was going to lose all of his children tonight, one way or another, if Donnie didn't stop it. And he only knew of one way." Alternate Ending to S 3, Ep 16: Clash of the Mutanimals.  
Author's Notes: This is going by itself because it's not slash. I have few more I will be posting out of my "Drabble and Slash" story because they are slash, but not Donnie centric. Unbeta'd.

"R-raph!"

The red-masked turtle didn't even flinch at the sound of his name, or the way Mikey's voice wavered as he spoke it. He stared unfeeling at the down turtle, who was sporting splotches of bruises and paralleled cuts, where he had been too slow in evading Raph's new hardware. He was trying his hardest to protect the precious cargo behind him. Leo was out for the count, though hopefully not for long. He was obviously in worse shape than Mikey, but just barely.

Donnie watched from the neighboring rooftop, where he had been punted just a few minutes earlier. He tenderly rubbed the bump on his head where he had hit the brick wall, causing him to lay stunned while Mikey and Leo continued their fight.

Their plan wasn't going smoothly. When Leo had dreamed up this scheme, it had sounded so simple.

" _Mikey and I will distract him,"_ he had said, _"I need you to stick him with the antidote. No sweat."_

Don gave a dark chuckle. "Yeah, no sweat," he muttered, trying to get his head to stop spinning enough to stand and join back in. "There is no way to get close enough to administer it without getting skewered."

His head snapped up as the epiphany hit him. He didn't even notice the stars flying in front of his face at the quick movement, and he ignored the protests his body as he rose from the hard rooftop with new purpose.

Don jumped over and landed shakily, giving himself only a moment to assess the situation one more time before making his move. Leo was starting move, a clear sign that he was coming to, but Mikey was getting worse. There was a long cut on his left arm and he only had the one nunchuck left to protect him and Leo. They were going to die, Donnie realized, and Raph was going to turn on him next. Master Splinter was going to lose all of his children tonight, one way or another, if Donnie didn't stop it. And he only knew of one way.

"Snap out of it!" Mikey screeched, his pain and fear echoing across the roof.

"There is nothing to snap out of," Raph said, his voice almost a monotone, dark and deadly. "There is only the Shredder."

Raph swiftly knocked the last weapon out of the younger turtle's hand and Mikey gave another cry of pain as he brought his arm back to him with a deep cut bleeding freely.

The dark turtle gave a hearty chuckle before raising his spiked gauntlet up again, this time aiming for Mikey's throat when he noticed Mikey's terrified eyes waver from him to something behind him. He gave a growl.

"Donatello," he smirked and swiftly turned, his raised weapon flashed in the moonlight, and heard the satisfying sound of sharp metal sinking into turtle flesh. "Gotcha."

He stared up at the taller turtle, whose face was almost blank. Raph watched as Donatello blinked at him, then looked down to where the gauntlet was sticking into his side.

"Not so smart now, are you?" Raph ground out, allowing his arm to twist slightly. He ignored the horrified scream behind him, not caring if it was Mikey or the newly awaken Leo.

Donnie gave an aborted cry but stayed standing. He placed a hand on Raph's neck and brought his head back up again, and Raph was startled to see a small look of triumph in those brown eyes.

"I'm s-still smarter than you," Don said with a bloody grin and pulled his hand away. It was only then the mind-controlled turtle saw the now empty viral in the genius's hand. He quickly slipped his hand out of the gauntlet to put his hand to his neck, feeling the raised skin where the needle had been injected.

The effects are nearly instantaneous. One second, his head had been cloudy and the next the fog disappeared. For the first time in days he'd been able to see clearly, but the image he was welcomed to was not a warm one. Far from it, actually.

Donnie tottering, barely upright, with gauntlet sticking out of his left side. The only thing normal about the picture was Donnie's smile, which despite the blood, was beaming.

"I-I did it!" he said, before crumbling.

With an anguished cried, Raph fell forward, barely catching his brother before he hit the concrete. He quickly pulled him towards him and held him in his arms, tears blurring his vision.

"Oh, my God, Donnie," Raph sobbed out, bringing Don's face to his. "Why did you do that, you stupid turtle? Why?"

He sounded so broken, which caused Donnie to raise his hand up to his brother's face, cupping it in comfort.

"Simple math," he said, his voice weak. He felt Raph's tears start to rain down on his face, which were soon joined in with their other brothers, who were finally able to move to them. "Three is better than none."

AN 2: I had this idea almost since they announced the mind-control plotline in Serpent Hunt, five whole episodes before Raph got that mindworm put in him. But I'm so busy with other prompts, I didn't get to this one until one of my friends on tumblr prompted me with this. It was supposed to be longer, with Raph demanding Leo kill him (and I contemplated actually letting him do it) but I stopped here because it felt like a natural end to it. I didn't need to write yet another story where we actually watch Donnie die in Raph's arms (been there, done that, got the nomination, etc.)


End file.
